On the night of 25 June, the elite Eighth Route Army under the Central G had entered the designated offensive starting position according to the order of the General Front Committee of the Taiyuan Campaign. Since the Kuomintang army had already built a large military airfield in the south of Pingyao County, which was more than 80 kilometers away from Taiyuan in a straight line, and now the entire Taiyuan front was within the combat radius of the Kuomintang Air Force, all military operations were carried out at night as much as possible.

The main target of the Eighth Route Army tonight is the Dongshan Fortress in the east of Taiyuan City, the so-called Dongshan Fortress is the general name of a series of defensive positions built by Yan Xishan in the East Mountain of Taiyuan during the two months that the G Army besieged the city, among which the four key points such as Niu Huozhai, Xiaoyaotou, Naoma, and Shantou are the most critical, so the Dongshan Fortress is also known as the four major fortresses of Dongshan, and it is also the biggest reliance of the Yan Xishan group to defend Taiyuan and resist the central government

The advance headquarters of the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side of Dongshan. Zhu D, He L, Liu Bcheng, Nie Rzhen and other senior generals of the Central G were already in place after dark, and all the high-magnification telescopes were set up. This hill is higher than the main peak of the East Mountain, and you can see the entire battlefield directly. On the top of the mountain, the guards were heavily guarded, and there were elites of the Eighth Route Army holding rifles and looking stern everywhere.

Zhu D held the telescope and looked at it for a long time, and it was pitch black on the opposite side, and Zhu Lao could always see some? But one thing is certain: there is no moon or stars tonight, and there must be dark clouds in the sky, that is, it is very likely to be a rainy day, which should be bad news for the Kuomintang reactionaries who rely on air superiority to eat, right? No small number of words

Zhu D put down the binoculars, and a confident smile appeared on his serious face...... No. The weather was in our favor, and it looked like even God was on our side. ”

Ye Ting, who was next to him, also sighed lightly, estimating that as soon as we started fighting tonight, the Kuomintang army assembled in Taigu County would go north overnight. For more than 50 kilometers, they walked slowly with heavy equipment, but no matter how slow they were, it was a day and a night. Feng Huanzhang and Li Renchao should be the thing when they encountered the Kuomintang army. ”

Liu Bcheng also put down the binoculars and smiled, so the weather is the key to this battle, Soviet meteorological experts analyzed, it was rainy all day, the Kuomintang planes couldn't come, they were only four divisions of 100,000 people, we have 200,000 and even if it is a fight, it is not much weaker than them, the two regiments of the artillery division 48 152mm howitzers can be assigned to the reinforcement corps, in addition to the artillery brigade of the Third Army and the artillery regiments belonging to the four Route Army, a total of eight artillery regiments and more than 190 cannons"

Zhu D nodded lightly, this is also the main reason why the central government decided to fight with the Kuomintang army in Taiyuan, although we are still at a disadvantage in terms of firepower, but we have a double advantage in total strength, and there is always a six or seven percent chance of winning. After saying this, Zhu D raised the binoculars again and looked at the battlefield shrouded in darkness, but his thick eyebrows gradually twisted.

This plan for the Battle of Taiyuan was actually drawn up by an advisory group led by Soviet military adviser Chuikov, and Zhu D actually did not approve of it in his heart. It's not that the plan is bad...... 200,000 to 100,000, and nearly 200 cannons, the chances of winning should not be small. But there are always some risks, in case there is a difference, I am afraid that the consequences will be worrying

Next to him, Liu Bcheng's slightly Sichuan-flavored voice sounded again, Commander-in-chief, we are about to start here, and the shelling will start in half a minute. There was a heavy artillery regiment, an artillery brigade, two artillery regiments, a total of one hundred and twenty cannons, of which there were twenty-four 152mm heavy howitzers"

……

Wu Ting, the deputy commander-in-chief of the artillery of the G Army, was looking at his pocket watch intently at this moment, and when the minute and hour hands were all aligned with the Roman numeral eight, he suddenly ripped off the grass ring on his head, waved his hand heavily, and shouted "Release"

One hundred and twenty neatly arranged mountain guns and howitzers showed their muzzles at the same time, and the gunners also removed their cover and pushed the bullets into their chambers. Ropes were pulled, and orange flames erupted from each muzzle

The artillery position of the G Army was deployed on the back of the hill of the starting position, which was only about 3,000 meters away from the main position of the Jin Army in Dongshan. However, there is a hill in front of it, which is almost a dead end for the Jin army's artillery counterattack, so it is very safe. And at such a close distance, it is simply impossible for the artillery of the G Army, which has undergone nearly two years of rigorous training, to miss.

A shiny cannonball fills the chamber and spits out. Dragging the orange-red dark red tail flame, he screamed and pounced on the opposite mountain. On the main position of the Jin army in Dongshan, a ball of fireball suddenly rose, shooting straight into the sky in various postures, and more than 100 cannons smashed thousands of shells on the heads of the Jin officers and soldiers in the first minute. By the light of the fire emitted by the explosion of the shells, the commanders and fighters on the starting position of the G Army could clearly see the fragments of civil fortifications, the fragments of bunkers, and the vaguely stumps and severed arms of human bodies lifted into the sky. The earth and rocks were shaken down and tumbled down the mountain. In a short time, the blue-black gunpowder smoke enveloped the entire Jin army's defense line, and the smell of gunpowder permeated the battlefield, choking people.

The shelling lasted only half an hour, and six or seven thousand shells had already been fired. The artillery positions were covered with copper shells, piled up as high as a hill. At 7:20 p.m., the sound of the cannon stopped abruptly. The officers of the Eighth Route Army, who led the first wave of the attack, straightened up and shouted the slogan "GCD members, Komsomol members, follow me" and jumped out, and behind them were thousands of soldiers wearing blue-gray military uniforms and hats with red five-pointed stars embedded in them. Thousands of people divided into four huge waves, flocking to the four most important commanding heights in Taiyuan Dongshan. At the same time, in various parts of the Jin army's winding front, a diversionary offensive was also launched

The first to meet the surging charge of the G Army was the artillery of the Jin Army, and since it had the Taiyuan Arsenal capable of assembling cannons, the artillery of the Jin Army was historically powerful (in the civil war). On this plane, they also have a powerful artillery force composed of the Min 13 75mm mountain cannon. It was with the firepower of this artillery that the Jin army was able to support itself all the way in the Battle of Xinkou and the Battle of Taiyuan, and it has not been crushed until now. However, the Jin army's artillery bombardment tonight did not achieve much results, and now it is the dark night when you can't see your fingers, and the G army is attacking on all fronts...... All the defensive positions were in a hurry, which made Yan Xishan and Wu Peifu in Taiyuan City a little dazed all of a sudden, and they couldn't figure out where the main attack direction of the G Army was? The fire of more than a hundred cannons had to be dispersed on all sides of Taiyuan City. In this way, the artillery bombardment of the Jin army at the front of the four major fortresses of Dongshan was not so intensive.

The distance from the starting position at the foot of Dongshan to the forward position of the Jin army was only a short two thousand meters, and thousands of soldiers of the Eighth Route Army with bayonets chanted the slogan of ** and charged against the not too dense artillery fire of the Jin army. Although shells fell from time to time, making large and small gaps in the charging skirmish line, most of them still managed to break through the artillery blockade without danger. At this time, the heavy machine guns erected at various firing points in the trenches of the Jin army also firing with a clatter, and the copper sound became a piece, and the bullet casings flew away. Dozens of streams of fire, like the scythe of death, swept through the straggler line formed by the brave soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, knocking them down one by one, but the charging formation of the Eighth Route Army was scattered very widely, and as soon as the machine guns of the Jin army rang out, the soldiers prostrated down one after another. They slowly squirmed forward with the help of the terrain features, and the rifle and machine guns in their hands began to return fire. The battle on the Taiyuan front gradually entered a white-hot state

……

On this night, on every major road south of Taiyuan, there were brigades of marching troops with red flags and torches, singing ** songs, and full of morale. These teams in blue-gray uniforms stretched from one end of the earth to the other, as if there was no end

Admiral Feng Yuxiang, also dressed in military uniform, stood on a high ground on the left side of a certain highway. Holding a telescope and looking south, accompanied by his number one confidant Lu Zhonglin, and in the distance there were staff officers carrying picture bags. Most of these staff officers are elites who have just graduated from the Baotou Army Military Academy, and in this era, Army G has taken the road of regularization from the beginning

This army, as far as Feng Yuxiang and Li Jishen commanded the G Army to fight for reinforcements, has a total strength of as many as 200,000, accounting for half of the regular army currently controlled by China G. If it was the Kuomintang that took refuge in the past, perhaps it would have been swept into the reserve army a long time ago and become a spectator next to this magnificent historical picture, right? No small number of words

A staff officer suddenly ran quickly and loudly reported to Feng Yuxiang that the vanguard had come into contact with the Kuomintang army, and on the front line of Xugou, our vanguard had encountered an unknown number of Kuomintang cavalry attacks, and had now repelled the enemy...... Now the vanguard has taken up positions in Xugou and is waiting for the arrival of the follow-up troops."

Feng Yuxiang frowned slightly, and commanded the map: "The staff officer on the side immediately spread the map that had been prepared long ago on a boulder.

"Huan Shuai, Xugou is here, dozens of miles away from Taigu County, will the Kuomintang army's cordon be placed so far?" Lu Zhonglin saw Xu Gou on the map at a glance, and his eyebrows gradually wrinkled, will our intentions be exposed? Do you want to deploy troops on the front line of Xugou? ”

Feng Yuxiang thought for a while with a gloomy face, and slowly shook his head...... They are us, and they would never have imagined that we have an order of 200,000 troops to speed up the march, and we must reach the designated place in the shortest possible time to give the Kuomintang troops a head-on blow to the northward troops."

At this moment, another staff officer ran away in a bit of a panic, and reported loudly that the Xugou front line urgently reported that our vanguard was ...... by the enemy Knocked back."

"You say" Feng Yuxiang and Lu Zhonglin exclaimed almost at the same time, Feng Yuxiang's eyes widened angrily, and his big hand pointed at the staff officer with a slight trembling hand.

Lu Zhonglin jumped to his feet and scolded Zhang Zizhong for eating dry, how long has it been? Just let the family be repulsed? It was repelled by the troops, did not skip the words.

"The report says that the vanguard of the main force, which may have encountered the enemy's brigade level, was heavily bombarded with at least 30 cannons, and our troops were caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties......"

"There really is a brigade" Feng Yuxiang took a deep breath and nodded slowly Zhang Xinchen (Zhang Zizhong) is also a brigade, and it is expected that he can't beat a brigade of the Kuomintang army, but ...... Still lost a little faster"

Lu Zhonglin leaned into Feng Yuxiang's ear and said in a low voice...... Let's ignore the rest and eat this brigade later? ”

Feng Yuxiang sighed softly, Zhang Zizhong's vanguard was repelled by a brigade of the Kuomintang army, and someone would definitely be captured in a battle at this level. 's military intentions will be exposed with a high probability, and the plan to raid the main force of the Kuomintang army to the north seems to be in vain, and now I have to eat this brigade first......

……

At the same time that Feng Yuxiang was thinking about eating this Kuomintang brigade that did not know what to do, his 20th Brigade of the 10th Division of the Third Route Army was in a bitter battle, and Zhang Zizhong, the commander of the 20th Brigade, had almost lost control of the troops at this time

In this dark night when it is difficult to see the five fingers, Zhang Zizhong's ordinary infantry brigade encountered the only cavalry brigade of the National ** Army, and this cavalry brigade is still the kind of super cavalry brigade with a full set of regiments, battalions, and companies. There were 18 cavalry companies in the six battalions of the two regiments of the brigade, and one cavalry artillery battalion, two cavalry artillery companies, and six cavalry machine gun companies. The total strength was as many as 4,500 men, and there were as many as 30 Min 17 Type 75mm cavalry guns.

This brigade was originally deployed in Taigu County, but after the news of the start of the Taiyuan battle reached the headquarters of the Kuomintang Shandong Front in Pingyao this evening, they were ordered to go north to the front line of Xugou to be responsible for guarding, but they did not expect to run into Zhang Zizhong's 20th Brigade head-on, and as a result, the two armies fought a chaotic battle in the dark night. The battle began with the 39th Regiment of Zhang Zizhong's 20th Brigade repelling a cavalry company that was on a search mission. The Kuomintang cavalry, who had been bullied, wept and ran to report that there was about a regiment of the enemy who had bullied us. As a result, it annoyed Fang Hailong, the commander of the 1st Brigade of the Independent Cavalry...... Later, under the cover of 30 cannons, the cavalry of a regiment launched a surprise attack on the 39th Regiment of the Central Army, which had just occupied the position and had not had time to build any fortifications. Zhang Zizhong's two regiments fell into chaos at once, and the contact with the rear was soon cut off......

Zhang Zizhong, who was taken by surprise, had to gather a part of his troops and retreat to a small village called Beiguan Village north of Xugou to wait for reinforcements, and with him was Comrade Liu Zhidan, a political commissar who had recently been sent to the 20th Brigade, who was also an extremely outstanding GCD man and military expert, and a graduate of the fourth phase of the Northwest Military and Political Cadre School. At this time, Political Commissar Liu and Zhang Zizhong were standing side by side on the front line to command the battle.

"The situation of the political commissar is very wrong" Zhang Zizhong held the binoculars and was trying to figure out the situation on the battlefield from the dark night sky, after looking at it for a while, he put down the binoculars and whispered to Liu Zhidan beside him, This is a large cavalry force, at least a few thousand people, and a large number of artillery. ”

"So what?" Liu Zhidan did not put down the telescope in his hand, but said lightly that we are now guarding here, and the enemy will not be able to defeat it for a while and a half. The main forces will arrive soon, and they won't be able to run if they don't run"

Zhang Zizhong frowned, but there is no such cavalry unit in the information we have."

Liu Zhidan put down the binoculars and looked at him with a slight surprise, Zhang Zizhong said lightly that in the information we have obtained, the enemy only has four infantry divisions and 100,000 people, but now there are four or five thousand more cavalry out of thin air, which shows that the information we have is wrong. Maybe...... The enemy will have more troops, so that our 200,000-strong army will most likely lose the battle. ”

"Isn't it just a few thousand more cavalry, what a fuss?" Liu Zhidan shook his head, raised his binoculars and continued to observe the battle situation on the front line.

Zhang Zizhong still shook his head, and whispered to himself that something was wrong, something was wrong...... There were a few thousand more cavalry for no reason. There must be a problem, it is likely that more troops from the enemy have been sent to Shanxi, but we don't know anything here......"

At this time, behind the Kuomintang front, a young officer in his twenties with shaved hair was looking contemptuously at the opposite village. He was quite tall, his eyes drooped slightly, but there was a pride in his flying eyebrows. He smiled to the people around him and said that he was damn, and he praised the G army to the sky, saying that it was a powerful one, and we should be cautious. In my opinion, that's just the case, we can crush them with a single charge. ”

The young staff officers around him were also full of arrogance and vitality. Everyone was bald, with a German-style steel helmet on their heads, glowing in the night. The young officers put down their binoculars and echoed them.

"Brigade seat, the enemy almost has a brigade, right? Without a lot of words, after this war, our brigade can be regarded as famous. ”

"That is, maybe we can change from a cavalry brigade to a cavalry division, but in fact, we are a cavalry division, and we are forced to compress it into a brigade. After this battle, the value of our cavalry can be reflected, and we should also change the name of the brigade seat to the division seat. ”

The bald head turned out to be the brigade commander of the First Independent Cavalry Brigade, Fang Hailong, after listening to the flattery of his subordinates, Brigade Commander Fang laughed and scolded you guys, just pat my ass, okay, give the order to collect the troops, I see that there must be a large army behind the enemy, and our cavalry is not used to fight a war of attrition. ”

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